Salem Solstice
=Story= Pre-Campaign Before the Plague Salem was born to his mother, Delphia, a human female, and his father, Vincent, an elven male. When Salem was born he inherited the Solstice family bloodline, becoming the first Draconic Sorcerer in seven generations. Because of this, after Salem’s birth he was taken as an infant into the service of the “Watchers” an ancient fellowship of draconic sorcerers who are charged as guardians over their dragon counterparts. Salem was bonded as a Watcher to Alduin, an ancient golden dragon due to Salem’s blood being that of a golden dragon, a very rare breed of sorcerer. Due to the rarity of Salem’s blood he was bonded to Alduin as an infant rather than when he came of age. Alduin had a difficult time in adjusting to the responsibilities that followed since normally Watchers are bonded to their dragons when they come of age, and because Alduin had not had a Watcher for hundreds of years. Alduin raised Salem like a son, he taught him several languages, how to hone his magical skills, basics of alchemy, medicine, and arcana. They lived on the outskirts of Rathixar, now known as Blight Town in a large temple constructed for worship for golden dragons. Salem assisted Alduin in the temple as a Watcher. He would perform modest tasks for visitors, such as basic healing, alchemy, and mending of trinkets, and clothing. Although Salem can speak several languages having spoken Draconic for years with Alduin has led to his broken speech when interacting in other tongues, which lead others to believe he was of lesser intelligence. A trait Salem picked up from Alduin was a habit of hording treasures, which lead to the stealing of items of magical properties, shiny objects, gold, or anything Salem deemed of value. Although Salem would steal items, in truth, he did so without ill intent, rather, it was a childlike reaction to the treasures he saw and his desire to acquire more treasure, like Alduin. Although many people have come to the temple in prayer and worship, Salem never managed to make friends. The only person who ever knew Salem by name was Marius Winterstone, a senior Watcher, who would make visits to the various Dragon locations around the world. Fending for Himself Salem enjoyed his simple life with Alduin, he never questioned his origins or life outside of the temple. At least not until the Dragons Blight. When Salem was 18 an unknown disease that only effected dragons and Dragonborn alike swept through Rathixar like a plague, it killed all that it infected, including Alduin. Everyone else that survived fled the area in fear, leaving Salem alone in the temple, where he lived in solitary for one year. The town of Rathixar was lifeless for some months before Elves and Dwarves moved in to investigate the diseases origin, or cure Rathixar, now dubbed Blight town was devastated, and little to no visitors came to visit the town and the once great temple that dwelled there. Only scholars, and scientists came. Salem, stricken with grief and confusion of the tragedy that had befallen him and the town did all that he’d known. He continued toiling in the temple, now a tomb for Alduins body, creating potions, and gathering herbs and flora from the surround area. That was until one day while in the forests Salem was approached by an Albion Slaver Party, a group of men sent by Brutus Blackfoot, Director of Slave Operations in Albion to scour the desolated area of Blight Town. Salem managed escape the brigands and make it to the safety of the temple, but the men followed. There, they attacked and beat Salem, before dragging him off to be placed in one of Albion’s many slave colonies. Campaign Go West Young Men! Salem arrived in Salt Town as a slave on the day of Ehlonna 10, 274 AP. Over the course of the next few days, he found himself unable to fit in with the other slaves though Axom Holtcroft appeared to take an interest in him. Salem continued to work away for each day of his enslavement until it became evident that fellow slave Aysha Morose was plotting something. Aysha had befriended Axom Holtcroft and Heidal Trueblood, both of whom were interested in escaping. The trio formulated a plan to escape that involved faking a dragon attack via Aysha and Axom using their magic (Salt Town staff were unaware that Aysha had innate magic, and Axom had broken his magic-blocking shackles and created an illusion to make them appear intact). Prior to the escape, Salem and Zagato Unrhymed became roped into the plot and were able to escape alongside Aysha while Heidal attempted to round up others and Axom held off the guards. The trio wasted no time in brutally murdering Slave Town's director, Badrick Longfellow, in his office before fleeing into the mountains. The trio trekked through the mountains, followed by some forests, before eventually stumbling upon the coast and finding the small hamlet of Port Albion. From there, they boarded The Gallant and proceeded to Moss Port where they all decided to do contract work for the Iron Company to pass time while waiting for the next ship bound for Stromgarde to arrive. While in Moss Port, the group encountered Dathan Swiftspirit, a High Elf ranger who made it quite known that he found Salem to be "enticing". A quite weirded out Salem repeatedly denied Dathan's advances quite firmly, but it only seemed to further encourage the ranger. Fortunately, Dathan was quick to disappear without a trace after the group completed a number of contracts. After departing from Moss Port aboard The Intrepid, Aysha offered to help pass the time by giving the two Dragon Dew. Both Salem and Zagato suffered from extreme trips, with Salem even setting fire to their room with an erratic firebolt before it was quickly extinguished. When the trio later awoke, they found the ship sitting still in the ocean and being attacked by undead. Aysha volunteered to stay below deck with frightened passengers while Salem and Zagato investigated further. After teaming up with the ship's first officer, Arn Shortmont, they explored the apparent ghost ship that the undead had boarded from. In the belly of the ship, an orb was encountered with what appeared to be a slumbering lich on the floor behind it. When the orb was broken, the lich quickly shot to the ground and posed an immediate threat. Zagato, being a paladin, promptly engaged the lich and became paralyzed from its magic. As Zagato fought to free himself and Salem tried reasoning with the undead being, Arn found himself frozen in fear. Just as Zagato was able to free himself from the paralysis, the lich struck Arn with the Disintegrate spell, killing him instantly despite only being grazed by the blast. As Arn collapsed lifelessly on the floor, Salem and Zagato fled back to The Intrepid as it drifted away from the ghost ship. Odd Jobs in Eastern Stromgarde After landing in Lioncrest, the group pondered what to do next. After winding up in a local inn to think things over, Salem was approached by a woman who introduced herself as Isabella Magdeline from Meksicburg. After being talked into going upstairs, and even though Salem was largely oblivious to what was even happening, the two shared a sexual encounter in Magdeline's room. Salem later awoke to find the woman digging through his belongings, at which point she revealed herself to actually be a disheveled old Half-Elf named Kravik Scragmane. After taking some of Salem's gold, Kravik fled. Upon meeting with Zagato, the pair spoke to a guard and discovered that Kravik did this sort of thing often and delighted in tricking people. In their hunt for Kravik, Salem was distracted by the local Arcanists Guild branch. After going inside and prying for information, as well as being subjected to various pranks, the branch's head arcanist Lysander Volcrum inducted him into the Arcanists Guild. When Salem and Zagato awoke the next morning, they found themselves short a member after Aysha left them in the middle of the night. Unsure of what else to do, they simply did jobs for the Iron Company before leaving town. Not far outside of Lioncrest, the pair stumbled upon an injured gnoll on the side of the road who was nursing a bleeding flesh wound on his leg. Salem prepared to launch a firebolt at the gnoll, but was stopped by Zagato. The pair was then ambushed by a small pack of lobos, which the gnoll helped defeat. Escorting the gnoll back to his village in the woods, they found it engulfed in flames. Salem was forced to assist Zagato in avenging the gnoll's fallen people by attacking the mercenaries responsible. After the three of them were victorious, they managed to interrogate one survivor who said that a necromancer was paying them to collect corpses for him. The mercenary was swiftly killed, and the gnoll revealed that his name was Razz after writing it in the dirt. After some careful tracking and interrogating another lone mercenary, the trio found their way to the den of the necromancer. The group descended into the cavernous lair, eventually finding the necromancer and slaying him. Salem quickly looted the room, taking the necromancer's staff from his dead hands. With Razz apparently having nowhere to go and deciding to follow Salem and Zagato, the three made their way further north. Close to nightfall, they reached The Wayfarer's Rest where they decided to spend the night. The owner of the establishment, Del Farrell, helped Salem with a scrying ritual. He decided to scry on his friend Marius Winterstone and found that he was in Salt Town after it had been destroyed by Axom Holtcroft. The group continued along on the road for some time the next day, eventually reaching Pyrebrook where the met local guard captain Keaton Heathcliff. Keaton explained to them that they should just pass on through since Pyrebrook was in the middle of trying to solve a werewolf problem. The group decided to help, staking out the chicken enclosure at night and giving chase to the werewolf when it emerged. The lycanthrope was tracked deep into the woods where it hid in a cabin. After a devastating joint attack from Keaton and Salem, the werewolf perished. Upon further travel north, the group reached the town of Elmshire. Through conversing with Gabrielle Prost and Lord Lambert Rayner, they learned that Elmshire Castle had recently developed a demonic presence for reasons unknown to the townsfolk. Lord Lambert's wife, Trista Rayner, decided to investigate on behalf of the local Cathedral of Aureon. Trista did not return from the castle, and had been missing for a number of days. With Gabrielle's assistance, the party entered the castle and put down several fiends before finding Trista Rayner in the basement hacking away at dead guards. They quickly learned that she had been possessed by a shadow demon, which immediately attacked them. After having the jump between bodies and controlling most of them at some point, they were successful in defeating the demon and rescuing Trista Rayner. Upon returning to Elmshire, Lambert Rayner was overjoyed to have his wife returned alive. Zagato was rewarded with the deed to Elmshire Castle. Lambert introduced Zagato to Elmshire's retired stewart, Milton Bedford, who would serve as the castle's administrator and treasurer. After appointing his staff, Zagato made it known that Salem had a degree of authority in the castle as well and was to be treated with respect. After the group spent the next day getting used to the castle that was now under their control, they set out for Masondale to the west in search of more work. Salem and the others eventually reached the town and assisted them in rescuing labourers who had been abducted by a withered mindflayer trying to start a new colony. With the intention of reaching Westmarch in their minds, Zagato decided that the group to move out and continue westward. The Umbral Covenant Strikes When Salem and the others arrived in the town of Hornmill, they found a woman confined to the stockade outside and sought information. Their search brought them to the estate of Lord Rowan Barlow. The group learned that Rowan was in the process of starting a revolution to reform Lenadia out of Eastern Stromgarde. He sent his demands to Queen Isildra Blackmont demanding that his terms be met and that Lenadia would be free to break away from Stromgarde centuries after it was absorbed by the kingdom. If the Queen failed to comply, Rowan would execute the woman detained outside, who the group learned was Ivy Morres, a prominent noblewoman from Westmarch. Zagato decided to play Rowan and pretend to be on his side to get more information and, at Salem's insistence to side with Queen Isildra over a mere lord, the group concocted a plan to set Ivy loose. The next day, the group set Ivy free with the intention of having Razz run into the woods with her. Prior to executing this plan, Ivy asked the two to retrieve a rapier known as Requiem for her due to it being an heirloom that had been in the family for years. while Salem and Zagato returned to Rowan's estate to meet with him. After getting him into his fenching hall, the two promptly killed him and made off with not only Requiem, but a handful of Rowan's own rapiers. Salem and Zagato then promptly met up with Ivy and Razz in the forest to return Requiem, at which point Ivy expressed that she was investigating the Umbral Covenant, much to Salem's confusion. Salem and Zagato then quickly returned to their wagon and rode it outside of town to pick up Razz and the weakened Ivy before fleeing towards Westmarch. When the group reached Westmarch, they were quick to seek an audience with Queen Isildra Blackmont thanks to the presence of the influential Ivy Morres. Queen Isildra thanked Salem and Zagato for dealing with Rowan Barlow and returning Ivy Morres to the capital, and then promptly invited them to her nightly royal feast. It was at this point that everyone split up to see the sights of Westmarch until it was time to attend the feast. While waiting for the feast, Salem found himself wandering the city until he located a looming tower belonging to the Arcanists Guild where he hastily entered to converse with fellow arcanists and obtain supplies for his alchemical experiments. After finishing at the Arcanists Guild, Salem prepared to head towards the castle. On the way, he observed a thief trying to steal a bag from an older woman. When he tried to intervene by giving chase to the thief, Salem bumped into a young Elven woman who was exiting an alley, sending the ceramics she was carrying flying out of her hands and smashing to the ground. Salem learned that the girl's name was Livi Solaris and that she was an attendant at the Westmarch Cathedral of Aureon. After apologizing, he made his way to the castle where he met up with Zagato and Razz. The party ventured to the royal dining hall where they were promptly seated after various shenanigans from Salem that involved attempting to sit in Queen Isildra's personal chair at the front of the room. Throughout the meal, Salem and Razz were openly horsing around as Ivy came to sit with them all while Zagato kept to himself. Salem also noticed Livi Solaris entering with Syledriel Lunacrest and awkwardly shouted at her to get her attention at one point. While everyone was dining, a figure quietly crept into the open window overlooking the city below and fired an arrow at Queen Isildra. As a result of Salem quickly shouting when he detected the arrow, the Queen was able to move slightly and avoid taking it to the heart. She was quickly rushed out of the room as Highlord Estevan Morres ordered a sweep of the room and the party detained. The group was detained for some time in the castle dungeon before guard captain Borus Cordona released them and indicated that they were no longer suspects in the attempted assassination of the Queen. Ivy greeted the party, though quickly rushed out of the room after Salem, who had seen the attacker, told her that the assailant may have been with the Umbral Covenant. Now that the party was free, Zagato decided to take Salem and Razz and meet up with one of Aysha's associates who she informed Zagato to look for. Back to Albion Placeholder. Category:PC Category:Half-Elf Category:Sorcerer Category:The Watchers Category:Inhabitant of Kaspia (Continent) Category:Inhabitant of Stromgarde Category:Inhabitant of Kurjaztar Category:Male Category:Party Member Category:Arcanists Guild Category:Blight Town